I Will Fear The Night Again

Night Secrets

---
Tyler walks through a dark field at three am looking for something he's not certain of. He can't stop looking at the stars, how bright they are in the middle of nowhere. He sees Josh from another part of the field, where they got separated.
"Josh!" Tyler yells to his best friend and band mate.
Josh moves for a moment, as if he heard Tyler, but doesn't look back. Tyler shouts again, and knows for sure Josh can hear him, but won't acknowledge him.
There's movement near Josh that Tyler sees as he's walking over to him, although he can't tell if the figure is a stranger or a crew member on tour with them. He starts walking faster and it feels like he's getting further away from Josh. The figure gets closer to Josh and all Tyler can see is the blade of a knife shimmer before it enters Josh.
"JOSH!" Tyler yells at the top of his lungs, "hey, you! Who the fuck are you?!"
He runs as fast as he can over to Josh, and the figure appears to have just vanished.
Josh's shirt is covered in blood and Tyler tries to put pressure on the two wounds, his voice cracking.
"Stay awake, Josh. C'mon, man it'll be okay just stay alive, please? For me, for me josh, just keep breathing. I'll get help please."
Tyler's holding Josh's hand for dear life, never wanting to let go as Josh forms a pained smile.
"Ty, I'll.. I'll be okay. S-so will, so will you," he mumbles, looking up at Tyler before it all went dark.

---

Tyler wakes up in a cold sweat, tears streaming down his face.
It was all a nightmare, he tells himself, Josh is alright.
His heart is beating harder than ever and he slowly sits up in his bunk, grabbing the water next to him and drinking some of it. Tyler gets up to wake Josh up, so he can make sure Josh is okay, but sees that the bunk across from his is empty.
His brain immediately goes to worst case until he hears a noise in the kitchen-type area. He swings his legs over the side of his bunk, about to jump to the floor when he hears the one voice he needed to hear.
"Ty, hey you can just stay there I got you." Josh mumbles, walking back with a cup of Tyler's favorite tea, the one he always drinks when he wakes up like that, and a pack of Oreos.
"The Oreos were gonna be for myself," Josh said with a light chuckle, "but I thought you might want to share them."
Tyler makes room for Josh in his small bunk and breathes in his smell.
Home, he thinks to himself, if there was a word to explain his smell, it'd be home.
He thanks Josh and takes a sip of his tea, placing it in a cup holder so he can lay down beside Josh.
Josh immediately wraps his arms around the shaken boy and holds him close, as close as he's able to. After laying in silence for a minute, Josh speaks up.
"You had a nightmare about losing me again, didn't you?" He whispers to Tyler.
"Yeah, it was more real than the others have been. More... full of fear and loss." He replies back, feeling Josh hold him tighter.
"Well, I'm here, Ty," he whispers against the shaken boy, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."
Tyler nods and rolls over to face the vibrant-haired drummer he's known to love. He lets out a small smile and presses his forehead against Josh's.
They sit up a little so Tyler can write in his journal and Josh glances over occasionally, knowing Tyler is okay with him knowing his Night secrets.
I had another dream of losing him. My best friend. The one I love. The night creeps in so painfully slow sometimes it feels as though it'll be fine, but then I fall asleep. The smell of his shirt is a kind of medicine, though. Better than the doctors could prescribe.
Josh smiles and leans against Tyler, holding him just a little tighter as he closes the book and puts it away. They lay back down, and after another moment of complete silence, Tyler speaks again.
"I love you a lot," he says, almost so soft it doesn't come out at all.
Josh has heard it a thousand times before, but he knows Tyler means it differently than the times they were only close friends. He kisses Tyler's cheek and gives him a soft smile back.
"I love you too, Ty."